Skipping Stones Youth Honor Awards
The Youth Honor Awards recognize creative and artistic works by young people that promote multicultural, international and nature awareness.
Original writing (essays(随笔), interviews, poems, plays, short stories, etc. ) and art( photos. paintings. Cartoons, etc. ) from youth. aged 7 to 17, should be typed or neatly handwritten. Essays should be under 1,000 words and poems should be under 30 lines Non-English writings, photo essays and art pieces (up to 8) are equally welcome.
You may also choose to stress the work of a youth organization or group project.。Using the same guidelines as above, tell us how the group works to preserve nature or enrich the community, its members and the lives of others.
Entries must be e-mailed or postmarked by 25 June. Please include the following:
·A cover letter telling about yourself and your works, age, address and telephone number or e-mail, which we need to contact you during August if you are a winner.
·A Certificate(证 书) of Originality and a Parental Permission to publish your work We reserve the right to publish your entry at our judgement.
·Send a $ 5 entry fee. If you enter the honor awards program and also subscribe (订购)( $ 25/year),you can enter without the entry fee. If you are entering electronically, we can send you an online request for $ 7, which includes the entry fee of $ 5, plus an additional $2convenience fee.
Ten winning entries will be published in the October issue. Winners will receive an Honor Award Certificate, a subscription to Skipping Stones and five books.
Send your award entries and submissions by e-mail or post to the address below,
P. o Box 3939
Eugene. OR 97403 USA.
In fo@Ski ppingStones.Org
One night before Bed, Christine Carter was sitting with her daughter in her legs. They were making a list: "Three Good Things of the Day." Her daughter, who was combing(梳)Carter's hair, said. "Mom, this is going to be one of my three good things."
Making a list was their way of reflecting on things they were grateful for. It's a skill based on an expanding field of research known as the science of happiness. Carter is a sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley. She studies how schools and families can develop positive emotions and help kids lead a healthier life.
Finding the positive side doesn't mean never being sad. It means understanding that feeling sad is natural, and that it passes more quickly if we can notice the good things in life. "This is really about mental health," Carter says. "We can practice bringing happiness to ourselves. It's like putting money in the bank. We can be ready to deal with hard times in the future."
A key step toward happiness is learning how to describe emotions, even negative ones. Feeling blue? It's better to accept the emotion willingly than to ignore it. Ask yourself: "What do I feel? Where in my body am I feeling it? Does it have a color or shape?"
Expressing gratitude is also important, Carter says. Let's say you often quarrel with a brother or sister. Reflect on why you're grateful to that person. Remember the good times. This makes it likely that you'll get along better tomorrow.
But the surest way to happiness is kindness. Helping others gives life purpose, Carter says, because you are changing the world. Even more, "We feel a sense of connection and love," she adds. "We are born to feel better in community. Our nervous system feels safe when we're connected with other people."
Visitors to Rome can now see one of the most important private collections of ancient Greek and Roman marble (大理石)statues. The 90 works from the Torlonia Collection opened this week in the newly rebuilt Palazzo Caffarelli, overlooking the Roman Forum.
Among the works is a marble fountain(喷泉)that was made in ancient Greece. Experts on ancient Rome believe the fountain once stood in the garden of the general and statesman Julius Caesar. It was already hundreds of years old.
The 620-piece Torlonia Collection is believed to be the greatest private collection of classical art in the world. It was begun more than a century ago by Prince Alessandro Torlonia. He found many of the pieces on the grounds of his family's Roman garden Rich from a business relationship with the Vatican(梵蒂冈), the family bought other well-known statue collections
In 1884, the prince built his own museum to show off his collection. When the museum closed in 1976, the pieces went into storage.
"The reappearance of such a collection is a very important event," said art historian Salvatore Settis. "When I saw them for the first time, they are very emotional because I knew most of those pieces from books, but I had never seen them."
The Torlonia family chose Settis to help with the difficult job of deciding which works should be shown to the public. Anna Maria Carruba helped prepare the statues for the show. "Many of these pieces were already restored from (the year) 1600 onwards. We didn't need to work on the structure of the statues but only on the surfaces, cleaning them," she said.
The show will stay open until June 29, 2021. It is the result of public and private cooperation among the culture ministry, the city of Rome, the Torlonia Foundation and the Roman jeweler Bvlgari.
You may have noticed particular bright night skies recently as we experienced a full moon. NASA reported the event, called the Wolf Moon, began Thursday afternoon and ended Saturday morning. But did you notice any changes in your personal sleep patterns in the days leading up to the full moon?
As the latest full moon was beginning, a new study was released suggesting that a full moon can affect human sleep cycles. Researchers confirmed that the nights leading up to a full moon have more natural light available after the sun goes down.
The new research found that in the days before a full moon, people go to sleep later in the evening and sleep for shorter periods of time.
The moon takes 27. 3 days to go around the Earth, but it takes 29.5 days to complete a full cycle from New Moon to New Moon. The new study measured the sleep patterns of test subjects as the moon progressed through at least one whole 29.5-day cycle. Some subjects were tested through two moon cycles.
On average, people involved in the-study slept about 52 minutes less on nights before a full moon. They also went to bed about 30 minutes later. The research showed that people had the latest bedtime and the shortest amount of sleep during the nights that were three to five days before a full moon.
The study involved 98 individuals living in three different indigenous communities in Argentina. Each local community had different access to electricity. One countryside community had no electricity access, while a second had only limited access. A third community was in a more populated area and had full access to electricity.
The scientists say further research is needed to help explain other possible causes for the changes in sleep patterns in the test subjects. Such causes could involve biological differences in individuals or social patterns within communities.
How to Be Productive During Difficult Times
When we are struggling, or when we have a hard time focusing, we may turn to others for help. We may even wish we had a hero to help us. Well, today here is some advice for you.
Turn ourselves into our own heroes.
When we make ourselves heroes, we not only gain focus hut also a sense of purpose. For example.it can give us hope as stories in the books often do. In stories, writers often give their hero, the main person in the story, a purpose.
Write out our tasks and ideas.
In stories, heroes also have tasks, which they want to finish and ideas, which they see for themselves, So we can write out our tasks and ideas, not just for a project but for our life as well. With clear tasks and ideas, events in our life no longer seem to be separate events. There's just a lot of value in having tasks and ideas.
When we know our strengths, we can use them fully. In difficult times, we can make our life easier by focusing on our strengths. It is even more important to identify weaknesses. All heroes have then. On their journey they face their weaknesses and learn from them.
Have small goals within a larger goal.
As we know, the hero's journey is not a one-time thing. It is a journey we arc on in our entire life.
Our life's journey is ongoing and ever-changing. We should be realistic with our goals and to be kind to ourselves, especially during difficult times
A. Learn from heroes in stories.
B. We often live a life without purpose.
C. Know our strengths and weaknesses.
D. They become part of our larger stories.
E. So have small goals that we can measure in some way.
F. We can do the same for ourselves and identify our purposes.
D. Making ourselves the heroes in our own stories helps us in many ways.
It was a hot, wet summer day a few years ago. At a local gas station, I noticed two elderly ladies 1 a way from their car. There was a look of shock and 2 on their faces. I looked and saw what they saw. Five wasps(大黄蜂) had started to 3 a nest around the gas cap. My eyes 4 in surprise. I shared the ladies' fear. The nest seemed to be forming.
Wasps had never been 5 of mine. Several times wasps 6 me while I was cutting my grass, bringing me a lot of pain 7 I was afraid to cut the grass for a longtime.
The most 8 time, however, was when I was a young boy. A friend of mine and I were running and playing in my backyard. I had 9 stepped on one of their hidden nests because before we knew it, we were being run after and 10 over and over by the wasps. We ran to my mom with tears in our eyes. My mom immediately let us have a cold bath and put us in the 11 water before giving us medicine to fight all the 12 in our little bodies from the stings（刺毛).
Recalling the past stings, I knew I couldn't let fear prevent me 13 others now. I reached into my back pocket for a paper towel and tore out the nest while the 14 wasps flew around me. The ladies finally thanked me and I said "You're welcome!" with a smile and a (n) 15heart.
Long time ago, a girl (name) Lisa put on her favorite necklace and went swimming in a pool. When she returned to the side, she realized that her necklace had fallen in the pool, and she began to cry. Just then, Jackson, a boy in the same neighbourhood asked her the reason she was crying. She told him what had happened.
"If you can become my friend." Jackson told her. "I will get your necklace for you." Lisa told him (leave) her alone because she didn't like Jackson. But again Jackson said that he would find her necklace. Finally, Lisa told him that she would do what he asked. Jackson went into the pool and found her necklace. He gave it to her. The girl grabbed(抓住)it ran home.
Lisa told her mother about that. After (hear) the story, her mother said "Thanks to Jackson, your necklace (find) this afternoon." She insisted that Lisa keep her promise and make (friend) with Jackson. The next day, Lisa invited boy to her home. They had a cup of tea and had a good time. (amazing), Lisa found Jack-son was a kind and polite boy. She liked to be (he) friend. From then on, they started a lifelong friendship.
Luke went down the stairs slowly as he wished he could have stayed in bed. It was his birthday, but it felt like almost everyone had forgotten it. His mom always made hrm breakfast for his birthday. But there was no breakfast today. Luke held onto a little bit of hope as he walked into the kitchen and hoped to see that there were presents waiting for him on the counter. No gifts.
Luke was at a loss and very sad when the doorbell ring scared him. "Maybe it's a present for me," Luke thought as he excitedly opened the door, "Luke Farsi?" A man asked. "Yes,that's me". Luke answered. We have your Bentley that was being dropped off today. We just need a signature (签字). "A Bentley car?" He couldn't believe his eyes.
Luke rushed back and saw his dad tying his tie in the mitror. "Thank you, Dad! Thank you!" Luke shouted and hugged him. "Oh! What's this all about?" His dad asked as he tried unsuccessfully to pull Luke off him."You got me a car?" "No. It's borrowed for today's business meeting." Dad responded quickly, busily dealing with his tie, even without glancing at Luke. "May I have the key?" asked his dad. L.uke unwillingly put the keys into his father's hand. "Thank you, I will be back tonight sometime." His dad said as he opened the front door and unlocked the Bentley. "Everyone forgot about my birthday." Luke slowly walked to his small old car to get to school.
注意：
①所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
②续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
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Luke was starting his car when he received a phone call from Rose, his best friend. As soon as Luke entered a room in the restaurant,"Surprise!" shouted his father, with a big smile on his face. |
